The Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Mian Saqib Nisar has appointed a new head for a joint investigation team (JIT) formed to probe the role of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif in a case related to transfer of land of the Pakpattan shrine in 1985.
The Supreme Court (SC) mandated JIT was earlier headed by Director General (DG) National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA) Khaliq Dad Lak, who cited personal reasons and excused himself to continue the probe. The CJP has now appointed the Director-General of the Anti-Corruption Establishment of the Punjab, Dr Hussain Asghar, as the new head of the JIT.
The case pertains to the transfer of 14,000 kanals of land of the Pakpattan shrine to Dewan Ghulam Qutab in 1985. When the stated land was transferred, Nawaz Sahrif was the chief minister of the Punjab province.
Earlier, during the hearing of a suo-motu case on December 13, a three-judge bench headed by the chief justice had constituted the JIT in this connection. The JIT under the leadership of new head Dr. Hussain Asghar has been instructed to submit Terms of Reference within 10 days.
Published in Daily Times, December 28th 2018.
